Revisiting draft tendencies of Chiefs GM Brett Veach

Following the 2018 NFL draft we took a crack at evaluating some of the draft tendencies of Brett Veach. With the 2019 NFL draft around the corner, it’s a good time to take a look back at some of those tendencies we saw in 2018. Will some of these things turn up again in 2019 or are they bound to change?

Brett Veach likes the SEC

Brett Veach has background as an SEC scout. In his first draft as general manager for the Chiefs in 2018, he seemed to favor his evaluations of players from SEC conference schools.

In the draft he took Breeland Speaks (Ole Miss), Armani Watts (Texas A&M) and Kahlil McKenzie (Tennessee). Following the draft he added several undrafted free agents including Darrel Williams and JD Moore (LSU) who are both still on the team.

Will Veach continue to value players from the SEC in the 2019 NFL draft?

The trade up

Being selective was important to Veach and the Chiefs in 2018. The team didn’t have a first round draft pick so they had to be very careful about who they chose. Moving around in the draft allowed them to do just that.

It’s unclear if having a first round pick will change the strategy of Veach moving forward. At the combine he didn’t seem to play down the fact that the Chiefs could potentially move up. In fact he claimed they have greater flexibility with four picks in the top 100.

Will the Chiefs trade up this year?

Versatility is important

The more you can do, the more valuable you are to Veach and the Chiefs. Andy Reid has mentioned this in the past specifically with offensive linemen, there are just only so many guys that you can suit up on gameday. Position versatility and scheme versatility seems to be most important for the Chiefs.

They add players who can do more than one thing. In 2018 they took Breeland Speaks with their first pick and even though they played him primarily at outside linebacker, it’s clear the idea was for him to play defensive end with his hand in the dirt in the future. That’s what he’ll do in 2019.

Dorian O’Daniel was No. 100 overall in 2018 because of his strengths as a special teams player. He also is a sub package linebacker and could probably fill in during a pinch at any linebacker spot. Tremon Smith had some developing to do at the cornerback position, but the Chiefs saw his abilities as a kick returner and saw value there.

Look for the Veach to continue to prioritize guys with some versatility to their game at a variety of different positions.

SPARQ in the late rounds

There’s a lot of varying trains of thought on how you should draft in the late rounds. After the 2018 NFL draft it seems clear that Veach places value on athletic traits and projection.

SPARQ is a composite athletic scoring system. It’s also an acronym for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness. Those are the things that SPARQ seeks to measure in NFL athletes, and some front offices use it in their evaluations more than others.

If you look at the Chiefs’ sixth round picks in 2018, both of them have intriguing SPARQ scores. Tremon Smith was the 29th ranked CB. Kahlil McKenzie would have been the 12th ranked OG (He was listed as DL because that is where he played in college).

Pay attention to Top-30 visits

Top-30 visits weren’t always publicized, but in the age of social media that has changed. Some teams don’t put significant emphasis on top-30 visits and gather their information elsewhere.

In 2018, the Chiefs brought in a lot of guys on visits who ended up joining the team as undrafted free agents. This year they’ve got quite a few more guys who’ve visited that will likely be drafted into the NFL.

It’s clear that the Chiefs have some level of value placed in these visits. Will they specifically target any players from this group this year that aren’t going to be undrafted free agents?

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